Producer Katya Bratkova about favorite books
IN BACKGROUND "BOOK SHELF" we ask journalists, writers, scholars, curators, and other heroines about their literary preferences and publications, which occupy an important place in their bookcase. Today, the director of the Bang Bang Education online school, the organizer of the children's project "Designer" and a student at the RSUH with a degree in anthropology, Katya Bratkova, shares her stories about favorite books.
I come from Severodvinsk - a city on the White Sea, where they build submarines. As a child I spent a lot of time on the street - we had a very compact yard and a huge children's party, with which we climbed in attics and basements, set fire to garbage dumps, played Cossack robbers, football, snowballs. Reading faded into the background, and I still had some separate flash memories: Dunno, Robinson Crusoe, The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik, medical reference book. The habit of reading in me was shaped more by the school than by the family: there were books at home, but a fairly standard and small library, and no one discussed them with me. But I had excellent teachers, and for senior classes I was filled with an interest in literature. Besides, I started going to a journalism school, writing articles for the newspaper Severny Rabochy, and I was going to enroll in the journalism department of Moscow State University.
It all began - which is quite logical for my case - with the Russian classics. The biggest revelation for me was Dostoevsky: it seemed to me that he was writing for me personally (and now I’m not talking about Raskolnikov, but about Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov). Herman Hesse had a similar effect on me. After reading Siddhartha and his stories, for the first time I came into contact with an amazing meditative state of reading, unknown to me before. Later I learned that he was a connoisseur of Indian culture, a polyglot, and owned Sanskrit, which I then studied for a while at the university. My third favorite is Leo Tolstoy. When I lived in Khamovniki, I often went to his manor house just to sit on a bench in a public garden.
Having arrived in Moscow and having fallen upon entering Moscow State University, I found myself a year without study and could distract myself from the Russian classics and school curriculum with a clear conscience. At this time, I got acquainted with Moscow and read everything: the orange series "Alternative" of AST, Limonov, Dovlatov, some fashionable then Japanese authors, Hemingway, Salinger, Harper Lee. A year later, I made an unexpected trick and entered the RSUH at the Faculty of Social Anthropology, opening my way to the world of non-fiction. In parallel with my studies, I became fascinated with yoga, and India became my university specialization: I taught Hindi and Sanskrit, read a lot about culture, history, studied Hinduism, Sufism, Gurdjieff, and even practiced Gurdjieff dances for a while.
I don’t like to worry and fear once again, so neither horrors, nor detectives, either in books or in movies, I most likely will not choose on my own will. I used to pounce on some author or topic and read until I re-read everything that is available, and then I did without reading for months - I watched a movie or listened to music instead. Now my life is better regulated, and lying on the couch with a book is rarely obtained, so I read every day a little bit on the subway or in the evening before bedtime. I dream of my own home library in a country house or in an apartment, but with my nomadic lifestyle this is not yet possible. I cherish the thought of a pretty corner with my favorite books and a comfortable chair: I confess, I miss the days when you could come to the country and calmly, without haste, re-read a book from the library in one sitting, wallowing on a folding bed.
As soon as I became pregnant, I realized that I wanted to know everything about childbirth and motherhood. About what happens to my body, how my consciousness changes, how to raise and raise a child, to make fewer mistakes. It all started with popular at that time books like "French children do not spit food" (which I now consider to be frankly wrecking, and then read with pleasure along with other new items in cute covers), from where I gradually reached the professional literature on psychology. I was so eagerly learning about the topic of parenthood, that I began to feel sick from these books. At such a moment it is important to just quit reading and not think about efficiency: the necessary information will settle down and will bear fruit. Gradually, from the practical questions about babies, I began to approach pedagogy and education - this will be my “Bookshelf”.
Michel Oden
"Revived childbirth"
An important book for me, after reading which I understood what kind of labor I want and in which direction I will move: I chose the "soft" option with a midwife in the hospital. I don’t remember exactly how I learned about the author (most likely, on some yoga courses for pregnant women), but in my case it was hitting the target. The most important thing for Michel Auden is respectful and trusting attitude towards a woman and her body and convincing justifications. From his work, I learned that such free behavior in childbirth, as it is important not to separate mother and baby after birth, when it is better to cut the umbilical cord. The most important thing is that I gained confidence that this is not a terrible event that you just have to go through (this is how most of the births spoke about it), but a real miracle.
I understand that everything happens in our maternity hospitals, and doctors, of course, not without reason, know how best. However, behind all this may be hiding indifference to the needs of the woman, her condition and sensations. In the process everything can be important: the level of light and sounds in the room, the number of unauthorized people, unnecessary conversations, completely unnecessary and unpleasant manipulations (now, for example, they are gradually refusing procedures such as enemas and shaving). Every woman has the right to comfort and respect in childbirth; It's a bit strange for me to write this in 2017, but our health care system is far from ideal. And the more people realize this, the sooner everything will change, and harmonious childbirth will be available not only to those who are willing to pay for a separate ward and services of a midwife.
Lyudmila Petranovskaya
"The secret support. Attachment in the life of a child"
If I am asked to choose a single book for parents, it will be “The Secret Support. Attachment in the life of a child” by the now popular psychologist Lyudmila Petranovskaya. This is a simple, but incredibly important book. It is small, and it clearly describes the relationship between the child and the parent from the point of view of attachment theory. About why, for example, it is necessary to respond to the needs of the baby, and not to “leave it to cry, but you can learn to handle it,” as some of the older generation, including pediatricians, can still advise us. About what is happening with the child and how to behave to parents during the crises of the year and three years, about the "tender age", schoolchildren and teenagers. In general, this is a book about how to create and maintain healthy relationships with children. Importantly, she dispelled all anxiety. Petranovskoy does it well at all - listen to any of her lectures, she is very soothing and inspiring.
Maria Montessori
"Children are other"
The texts of Maria Montessori are truly exalted - and I admire it. Someone may be repelled, but I was filled with her respectful and reverent attitude towards the personality of the child. I know that the Montessori system has critics, but in Russia it is now becoming popular, as it seems to me, primarily due to the idea of freedom of choice. Probably many did not have enough of this in childhood, and perhaps not enough now.
“Children-Others” is a book about awareness, love, and the fact that a child naturally has a craving for knowledge. If he creates the necessary conditions and does not interfere, he can learn everything himself. The joy of discovery is such a valuable thing. Montessori ideas are also suitable for adults: thanks to them, parents and teachers can do important work on themselves. Allowing yourself to be just an observer, not to intervene once again, not to give an assessment, to respect a little person, and not to dictate to him can be difficult, but it brings its amazing results. Not only the child is changing, but also an adult.
Alexander Neill
"Summerhill - upbringing freedom"
Probably, I have a childhood trauma due to the Soviet education system, since I am so attracted to books and approaches that preach free choice. I am convinced that knowledge comes only when there is interest, and you cannot force anything into a child. “Freedom education” is an impressive story about an alternative school that was created almost a hundred years ago, where children could do or not do everything they wanted. The idea was that the school should adapt to the child, and not vice versa.
The results of the experiment were impressive: even the most difficult children relaxed, began to learn on their own, self-organized and ran the school, found a case to their liking. They grew up with knowledge of what they wanted to do, with a sense of justice and respect for others, responsibility for their actions, and most importantly - were happy. The success of the school is largely due to the fact that its head was a psychotherapist who understood the motives and unconscious causes of children's behavior and helped them cope with it, and also accepted them as they are.
Sue gerhardt
"How does love form the brain of a child?"
The basic idea of the book, like that of Petranovskaya: the child needs a constant, loving adult nearby. The book is written by a psychologist, and it contains research from the field of physiology, biochemistry and neurology. Here it is described in detail about hormones, about what chemical processes take place in the brain of a child, what are the consequences of certain stresses in childhood. Sue Gerhardt, by the way, says that we often lose sight of children's emotional needs - namely, the need of babies in constant contact with their mother. I intend to read the next book of the author "The selfish society".
Jean Ledloff
"How to raise a child happy"
At university, I read with great pleasure the anthropologists who worked "in the field" - for example, "Culture and the world of childhood" by Margaret Mead. I probably romanticize life in a traditional society, but even if you omit all the romance and try to look at the lives of hunters and gatherers who, because of their way of life, do not seek to accumulate wealth, there are a lot of questions. Why does the whole structure of society and the relations inside it look different than ours? What is valued in such conditions, what is considered important? How happy are these people? Can a look at them and their experience enrich us, the inhabitants of big cities? I was absolutely enriched.
Marina Ozerova
"About children's drawing"
I am a big fan of children's drawings, I can look at them for hours. As a mother of a little girl, I was waiting for her to draw. I consider it a great success that the book “On Children's Painting” fell into my hands before I began to teach a child to draw faces, Christmas trees and flowers. This is not worth doing, as it is a stereotypical creative process, and children are quite capable of seeing the subject themselves and expressing their vision in a unique manner. From the book you can also find out what stages a child goes through in drawing and how they relate to speech, how to interpret drawings, and find answers to frequently asked questions from parents. In addition, this is a very high-quality edition with good illustrations - the book is filled with interesting children's work - so I bought a paper one.
Elaine Airon
"Supersensitive nature"
I read "Supersensitive nature", but I know that the author has another edition - "Supersensitive child." For me, this book is primarily about accepting - myself, others, children and adults. About the ability to not make high demands and make others a discount, because someone - you or another person - may not be like everyone else, be special, may react sharply, cry, get tired quickly, get sick often, avoid crowded places, dislike loud music and much more. If you or your child, your friend or relative is a hypersensitive person, accept him as he is, help him, especially when it comes to stressful life in the megalopolis. The ability to slow down, the lack of high expectations, rituals, the mode of the day, some favorite activities will be faithful helpers along the way.
Manfred Spitzer
"Anti-brain: digital technology and the brain"
I, like many, are worried about how gadgets, TV and computer (in the book the author unites them under the acronym SMYK) affect the brain of a person, and especially a child. "Antimozg" - an attempt to comprehend what is happening. The author is somewhat conservative and, perhaps, even aggressive in his reasoning, but confirms the fears about the frequent use of SMIC. Interestingly, the book largely refers to the statistics of Germany, the life in which from here looks almost flawless.
Peter Gray
"Freedom to learn. Play against the school"
Another attempt to comprehend the issues of education. Why is a traditional school such a thing wrong with it and what are the alternatives? The personal experience cited by the author, a psychologist at Boston College, is teaching his son at the Sudbury Valley school. This is a book about the importance of the game, the benefits of home education, about my favorite hunters and gatherers, and natural learning. It remains to determine how to implement it in our conditions.